Romanticism: Early Influences

Early Influences

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau's works emphasized individual emotion and the natural human state, setting the stage for Romantic ideals.
• Edmund Burke's philosophical treatise "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" (1757) influenced Romantic aesthetics with its exploration of the sublime.

Reactions to the Enlightenment

• The late 18th century saw growing disillusionment with the Enlightenment's focus on reason, order, and universal truths.
• Writers and thinkers began to emphasize emotion, intuition, and the individual's subjective experience.

Key Developments

Literary Beginnings

• The Sturm und Drang movement in Germany (1770s-1780s) emphasized emotional tumult and individual rebellion, with key figures including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
• English Pre-Romantics, such as William Blake and Robert Burns, explored themes of emotion, nature, and the individual's inner life in the late 18th century.

Political and Social Context

• The French Revolution (1789) deeply influenced Romantic writers, who were inspired by notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
• This period saw significant political and social changes that fostered a sense of both possibility and instability.

Reaction to Industrialization

• The Industrial Revolution brought rapid technological and social change, leading to urbanization and often harsh working conditions.
• Romanticism emerged partly as a reaction against the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, advocating for a return to nature and the celebration of individual creativity and emotion.

Flourishing of Romanticism

Lyrical Ballads

• The publication of "Lyrical Ballads" in 1798, a collaborative work by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is often considered the formal beginning of the Romantic movement in English literature.
• This collection emphasized the beauty of nature, the depth of human emotion, and the value of ordinary life.

Development in Visual Arts and Music

• Romanticism also manifested in visual arts, with painters like Caspar David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner focusing on dramatic landscapes and the sublime aspects of nature.
• In music, composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert explored intense emotion and individual expression, contributing to the Romantic ethos.

Key Figures and Works

• Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats further developed Romantic themes, exploring the heroic, the mystical, and the melancholic.
• Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" (1818) combined Romantic elements with gothic horror, addressing themes of creation, isolation, and responsibility.
• Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas brought Romantic ideals into novels and plays, emphasizing social justice, individual heroism, and dramatic narratives.

Philosophical Foundations

• Philosophers like Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis in Germany developed Romantic theories that emphasized the importance of imagination, creativity, and the transcendental aspects of human experience.

Conclusion

• Romanticism reacted to the limitations of Enlightenment rationalism, the disruptions of the Industrial Revolution, and the social and political upheavals of the time.
• It celebrated emotion, nature, individualism, and the sublime, leaving a lasting impact on literature, art, music, and philosophy.

Medievalism and the Gothic Revival

• Romanticism was partly inspired by a renewed interest in the medieval past and gothic aesthetics, seen as a time of mystery, spirituality, and adventure.
• This interest contrasted with the classical ideals of harmony and order prevalent during the Enlightenment.

Nature and the Sublime

• There was a growing appreciation for the beauty and power of nature, seen as a source of inspiration and a counterbalance to industrial society's artificiality.
• The concept of the sublime—awe-inspiring, often overwhelming beauty—became central to Romantic aesthetics.

Philosophical Influences

• Philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau emphasized natural human goodness and the corrupting influence of society, ideas that resonated with Romantic thinkers.
• German Idealism, particularly the work of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schelling, influenced Romantic notions of the creative power of the imagination and the individual's inner experience.